The Value of Feminism in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and the Implications for Language Teaching

THE VALUE OF FEMINISM IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHING

 

Meice Puspita

SMK N 1 Penukal meyce.88@gmail.com

Putra Pratama

English Study Program,Universitas Tamansiswa Palembang putrapradtama@gmail.com

Abstract: This study is a descriptive study where Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is used as the data source. The writers collected the data in term of a classification namely feminism. The classification reveals the data which are concerned with human right, women’s right, marriage, equality, dignity, freedom, opportunity, and pride. This deliberation is conducted in relation to answer research problems and to deal with intrinsic and extrinsic elements which are associated with the feminism values. 

The result of the research is Feminism can be seen in Jane Austen’s novel in the form of existing system of entailment. Entailment in Pride and Prejudice, the restriction of future ownership of real-estate to particular descendants, is limited solely to male heirs.

 The writers determined some elements of feminism after analyzing the novel and digging out the author’s depiction. Those elements are human right, women’s right, marriage, equality, dignity, freedom, opportunity, and pride. There are four main reasons which lead a language teacher to use literature in the classroom. These are valuable authentic material, cultural enrichment, language enrichment and personal involvement.

Keywords: Feminism; language teaching; literature

condition. It contains both the depiction of the social and political history. In social depiction, it can be seen in setting and environment, and in political depiction, it can be seen in the historical value which is existed in the novel. Therefore, this approach will help the writers in analyzing the topic about the value of feminism as reflected in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Data Collection

This study is a descriptive study where Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is used as the data source. The writers collected the data in term of a classification namely feminism. The classification reveals the data which are concerned with human right, women’s right, marriage, equality, dignity, freedom, opportunity, and pride. This deliberation is conducted in relation to answer research problems and to deal with intrinsic and extrinsic elements which are associated with the feminism values.

Data Analysis

The data analyzed by referring to the contents of the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. There are some steps that the writers will apply in analyzing the data which are described as follows:

• To assimilate the contents of feminism; human right, women’s right, marriage, equality, dignity, freedom, opportunity, and pride which are concerned with the humanity values.
• To construct human theories that provide discussion on other positive and negative opinions.
• To determine the relationship between intrinsic factors and human values.
• To apply those human values in the form of theoretical claims.

Triangulation

To show the validity of the study the writers presents the theory of triangulation. A single method can never adequately shed light on a phenomenon. Using multiple

 

methods can help facilitate deeper understanding.

Triangulation may take several forms, but commonly refers to the employment of multiple data sources, data collection methods, or investigators. In general, the purpose of this would be to reduce the disadvantages inherent in the use (Long & Johnson, 2000, p.34). Furthermore, according to Guion (2002, p.1) “triangulation is a method used by qualitative researchers to check and establish validity in their studies.”

The above quotations show that to get the legality, the finding data which is classified accurate should be tested again. In order to be more steady and logical to testing the steadiness of the thesis finding, the writers applies the term triangulation that is the activity to test or recheck the finding data which synergizes each other. To determine the validity of data (trustworthiness) needs technique of investigation. According to Shenton (2004, p.73) there are four strategies/ criteria for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. The criteria can be seen in the Table 1.

According to Guion (2002, p.1) there are five types of triangulation namely data triangulation, investigator triangulation, theory triangulation, methodological triangulation,   and      environmental triangulation. In this study the writers will apply data triangulation. Guion (2002, p.1) state “Data triangulation involves the use of different sources of data/ information.” The sources could be thesis, literary journal, literary critic, and other fiction. The data applied in triangulation of this study are as follows:

• Bunch, C. 1990. A Journal: Women's Rights as Human Rights. Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Bunch, C. 1990. A Journal: Women's Rights as Human Rights. Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Table 1. Criteria for Trustworthiness

Quality Criterion

Possible provision made by researcher

Credibility

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Transferability

 

 

Dependability

 

 

Conformability

Adoption of appropriate well recognized research methods.

Development of early familiarity with culture of participating organizations.

Random sampling of individuals serving as informants. Triangulation via use of different methods, different types of informants and different sites. Tactics to help ensure honesty in informants. Iterative questioning in data collection dialogues.

Negative case analysis.

Debriefing sessions between researcher and superiors. Peer scrutiny of project

Use of “reflective commentary”

Description of background, qualifications and experience of the researcher.

Member checks of data collected and interpretations/theories formed.

Thick description of phenomenon under scrutiny. Examination of previous research to frame findings.

 

Provision of background data to establish context of study and detailed description of phenomenon in question to allow comparisons to be made

 

Employment of “overlapping methods”

In-depth methodological description to allow study to be repeated

 

Triangulation to reduce effect of investigator bias Admission of researcher’s beliefs and assumptions Recognition of shortcomings in study’s methods and their potential effects In-depth methodological description to allow integrity of research results to be

                                      scrutinized.                                                                          

• Putri, W.I. 2011. A Thesis: The Spirit of Feminism Reflected in the Main Character of Mona Lisa Smile Movie: A Study of Feminism in a Patriarchal Society. Semarang: Universitas Diponegoro.
• Xueqing, W. and Yan Liu. 2011. Theory and Practice in Language Studies: Analysis of the Feminism in Pride and Prejudice. Vol. 1, No. 12, pp. 1827-1830:     Finland:        Academy Publisher Manufactured.
• Benstock and Suzanne Ferriss and Suzanne Woods. 2002. A Handbook of Literary Feminism. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Ruthven. 1984. Feminist Literary Studies: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
• Dalton, Sanja. A Journal: Feminist Literary Criticism in English Literature (How does it apply to ‘Pride and Prejudice’-by Jane Austen?)
• Marshall, Crhistine. 1992. A Journal of Jane Austen Society of North America. "Dull Elves" and Feminists: A Summary of Feminist Criticism of Jane Austen. Persuation 14.

RESULTS

The Value of Feminism in Pride and Prejudice

Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is the novel that tells about situation and condition especially in middle up society. Austen correlates her imagination with the reality in society. The novel is mainly concerned with the value of feminism in society. Feminism can be defined as the belief that women are and should be treated as potential intellectual equals and social equals to men.

Feminism can be seen in Jane Austen’s novel in the form of existing system of entailment. Entailment in Pride and Prejudice, the restriction of future ownership of real-estate to particular descendants, is limited solely to male heirs. As Mr.  Bennet has no male children, his

 

estate will be entailed to Mr. Collins as opposed to his own daughters.

There is a part in the novel that demonstrates the above stated:

“Oh! My dear,” cried his wife, “I cannot bear to hear that mentioned. Pray do not talk of that odious man. I do think it is the hardest thing in the world, that your estate should be entailed away from your own children; and I am sure, if I had been you, I should have tried long ago to do something or other about it.” (p.51)

With the imposition of entitlement in Austen’s novel comes a pressure for women to marry and search for a husband to attain a better life. This is the case with Charlotte Lucas accepted Mr. Collins solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment, cared not how soon that establishment were gained.

In writing that, Charlotte Lucas married for sake of a future in a male dominant society where the future would not be possible otherwise.

Austen can be seen to be criticizing the role of the female in the setting of Pride and Prejudice. As Charlotte goes on to say to Elizabeth in regard to her marriage with Mr Collins:

“…I hope you will be satisfied with what I have done. I am not romantic you know. I never was. I ask only for a comfort- table home; and considering Mr. Collins character, connect- ions, and situations in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on enter- ing the marriage state”. (p.104)

This further demonstrates the point that Charlotte in a male dominant society, felt compelled to marry in order to secure her own future. The writers determined some elements of feminism after analyzing the novel and digging out the author’s depiction. Those elements are human right, women’s right, marriage, equality, dignity, freedom, opportunity, and pride.

The Contributions for English Language Teaching

The use of literature as a technique for teaching both basic language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and language areas (vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation) is very popular within the field of foreign language learning and teaching (Hismanoglu, 2005, p.54).

According to Collie and Slater (1990, p.3) in Hismanoglu, there are four main reasons which lead a language teacher to use literature in the classroom. These are valuable authentic material, cultural enrichment, language enrichment and personal involvement.

• Valuable Authentic Material

Literature is authentic material. Most works of literature are not created for the primary purpose of teaching a language. Many authentic samples of language in real- life contexts are included within recently developed course materials. Literature can act as a beneficial complement to such materials, particularly when the first “survival” level has been passed. In reading literary texts, because students have also to cope with language intended for native speakers, they become familiar with many different linguistic forms, communicative functions and meanings.

• Cultural Enrichment

For many language learners, the ideal way to increase their understanding of verbal / nonverbal aspects of communication in the country within which that language is spoken - a visit or an extended stay - is just not probable. For such learners, literary works, such as novels, plays, and short stories facilitate to understand how communication takes place. Though the world of a novel, play, or short story is an imaginary one, it presents a full and colorful setting in which characters from many social/regional backgrounds can be described.

• Language Enrichment

Literature provides learners with a wide range of individual lexical or syntactic items. Students become familiar with many features of the written language, reading a substantial and contextualized body of text. They learn about the syntax and discourse functions of sentences, the variety of possible structures, the different ways of connecting ideas, which develop and enrich their own writing skills.

• Personal Involvement

Literature can be useful in the language learning process owing to the personal involvement it fosters in the reader. Once the student reads a literary text; he begins to inhabit the text. He is drawn into the text. Understanding the meanings of lexical items or phrases becomes less significant than pursuing the development of the story. The student becomes enthusiastic to find out what happens as events unfold via the climax; he feels close to certain characters and shares their emotional responses. This can have beneficial effects upon the whole language learning process. 

Furthermore, literature plays an important role in teaching four basic language skills like reading, writing, listening and speaking. However, when using literature in the language classroom, skills should never be taught in isolation but in an integrated way. Teachers should try to teach basic language skills as an integral part of oral and written language use, as part of the means for creating both referential and interactional meaning, not merely as an aspect of the oral and written production of words, phrases and sentences (Hismanoglu, 2005)

Literature and Reading

In relation to reading skill, there were a number of ways in providing a range of reading formats in classrooms. In this case novel is one of them.

Activities that the teacher can prepare in contribution of literature in ELT, for instance: students are encouraged to read novel and they are asked to retell and share the contents of the novel. That is to state that they share their evaluations of the work and their personal reactions to their works, i.e. to its characters, its theme(s), and the author’s point of view.  

 Then, students are required to understand the messages contain in the novel. Teachers can use novel to promote student’s comprehension when they involved in reading novel. In reading activity, the students receive messages out of the significant of the text. In this case reading activity required the students to conform the comprehension, where they are involved to explore information in the text.

Besides that, reading literature also deals with the development of students’ vocabulary enrichment. By reading literature, students find new words, the more they read the more they enrich their vocabulary.

Literature and Writing

Literature can be a powerful and motivating source for writing in ESL/EFL, both as a model and as subject matter. Literature as a model occurs when student writing becomes closely similar to the original work or clearly imitates its content, theme, organization, and /or style.

In writing the students are directed to produce a piece of writing in relation to the novel. Teacher then inspects the students’ work with regard to contents of intrinsic elements. Other activity, students can be reporters doing a live newscast, or they can rewrite a third person passage into first person from a character’s point of view.

 

Literature, Speaking, and Listening

With regard to speaking and listening Hismanoglu (2005:7) stated that language teachers can make listening comprehension and pronunciation interesting, motivating and contextualized at the upper levels, playing a recording or video of a literary work, or reading literature aloud themselves. Having students read literature aloud contributes to developing speaking as well as listening ability. Moreover, it also leads to improving pronunciation.

Students are directed to read the novel and then to retell the main idea of the story. In the meantime, students are also told to listen to their partners who read out the story.

Furthermore, there are other contributions by using novel in English Language Teaching. The use of a novel is a beneficial technique for mastering not only linguistic system but also life in relation to the target language. In novel, characters reflect what people really perform in daily lives. Novels not only portray but also enlighten human lives. 

Using novel in a foreign language class offers some educational benefits, such as develop the advanced level readers’ knowledge about different cultures and different groups of people, increase students’ motivation to read owing to being an authentic material, offer real life settings, give students the opportunity to make use of their creativity, improve critical thinking skills, pave the way for teaching the target language culture, enable students to go beyond what is written and dive into what is meant.

CONCLUSION

Feminism can be seen in Jane Austen’s novel in the form of existing system of entailment. Entailment in Pride and Prejudice, the restriction of future ownership of real-estate to particular descendants, is limited solely to male heirs. As Mr. Bennet has no male children, his estate will be entailed to Mr. Collins as opposed to his own daughters.

The use of literature as a technique for teaching both basic language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and language areas (vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation) is very popular within the field of foreign language learning and teaching.

In relation to reading skill reading literature also deals with the development of students’ vocabulary enrichment. By reading literature, students find new words, the more they read the more they enrich their vocabulary.

Literature can be a powerful and motivating source for writing in ESL/EFL. In writing the students are directed to produce a piece of writing in relation to the novel. Teacher then inspects the students’ work with regard to contents of intrinsic elements.

With regard to speaking and listening teachers can make listening comprehension and pronunciation interesting, motivating and contextualized at the upper levels, playing a recording or video of a literary work, or reading literature aloud themselves. Having students read literature aloud contributes to developing speaking as well as listening ability. Moreover, it also leads to improving pronunciation.

Students are directed to read the novel and then to retell the main idea of the story. In the meantime, students are also told to listen to their partners who read out the story.

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Bunch, C. (1990). A journal: Women's rights as human rights. Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.

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Putri, W.I. (2011). The spirit of feminism reflected in the main character of mona lisa smile movie: A study of feminism in a patriarchal society. Unpublished thesis. Semarang: Universitas Diponegoro.

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